David Draiman Apologizes For Calling Out Texting Fan at Recent Show

Being anywhere near somebody that’s texting at a show… Annoying as hell, right? You automatically assume they’re texting their BFF, or making dinner plans for tomorrow night, or swiping on Tinder or something. Think what you want, but you might want to know the exact story before you call somebody out for it.

Last month, David Draiman made headlines after a show at House of Blues in Dallas for calling out a fan for texting in the front row of the balcony while the show was going on. He stopped the show for a solid two minutes to make a point to call the woman out (video below), but is now apologizing for his actions.

The woman told Dallas Observer that she was texting her son, who was on his way home from a terrible storm.

He made a lengthy apology after getting a ton of backlash on social media, even from Disturbed fans. From Loudwire:

“I wasn’t privy to the information of what she had going on and when I made my original Facebook post that information had not yet come out. I feel badly about it and I am sorry. I can only say at this particular point that I think that that tactic may be something that I from here on out remove from my live repertoire because obviously there is the chance of me making that scenario happen again if I don’t have the information that would keep me from making that mistake.

So again, I feel badly about it and I am sorry. I never want anyone to leave one of our shows feeling badly. The whole idea is to pull them in and to make them feel empowered and sometimes you’ve got to be a little forceful when you do that and if she got rubbed the wrong way, that is something that I regret.”

The woman, Shannon Pardue, made the final comment:

“Rock stars wouldn’t be where they are without people who come to pay for the show. Whether I had my eyes on him or not, I am still there and I can hear them. He’s an amazing singer, and they were good, but it was just his attitude. I’ll never pay to see him again nor will my friends.”